Gov’t starts implementing ‘painful’ measures to get IMF approval

KINGSTON, Jamaica, Observer - Let us pull together, PM appeals to country FINANCIAL institutions and holders of domestic bonds will this morning be asked to take a haircut on interest for the second time in three years as the Government starts implementing measures critical to signing a funding arrangement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller and Finance Minister Dr Peter Phillips, in an unprecedented joint national broadcast last night, announced the Administration's plan for what they have termed a "National Debt Exchange Offer" which, they said, will be launched with the support of leading private sector financial institutions. FINANCIAL institutions and holders of domestic bonds will this morning be asked to take a haircut on interest for the second time in three years as the Government starts implementing measures critical to signing a funding arrangement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).